Palladium Partners LLC Sells 19,847 Shares of Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Palladium Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 313,745 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 19,847 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.7% of Palladium Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Palladium Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,994,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP raised its stake in Apple by 22.8% in the second quarter. River & Mercantile Asset Management LLP now owns 1,800 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. Smith Affiliated Capital Corp. raised its stake in Apple by 158.0% in the second quarter. Smith Affiliated Capital Corp. now owns 1,935 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 1,185 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Apple by 5.4% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 2,088 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the second quarter. Boston Standard Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,280 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $220,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 56.46% of the company’s stock.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 1.74% on Monday, reaching $116.05. 36,235,956 shares of the company were exchanged. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $110.55 and a 200 day moving average of $103.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $625.33 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $89.47 and a 12-month high of $123.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The iPhone maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 21.70% and a return on equity of 37.89%. The firm had revenue of $42.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post $8.26 EPS for the current year.

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Jaffray Cos. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $153.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 26th. Credit Suisse Group AG reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 15th. Citigroup Inc. raised their price target on Apple from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 20th. Finally, Vetr lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $105.47 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, August 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, forty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $126.13.

In other Apple news, SVP D Bruce Sewell sold 23,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.49, for a total value of $2,505,054.45. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 239,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,725,474.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Angela J. Ahrendts sold 25,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $2,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 105,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,583,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings.